I’m going to take this opportunity to share our engagement story because 1) I love it, and 2) this is the 4 year anniversary of the day we got engaged. Well, actually, that second bit is up for debate. See, I always celebrate the anniversary of our engagement on the night before Thanksgiving (because that’s when it happened), but my husband celebrates it on the actual date that it occured back in 2003 (was that the 24th? the 26th? I don’t know, because that’s not when I celebrate it). So here goes (it’s long. You might want to grab a cup of coffee).

When I tell the story, it always starts on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I was enjoying my week long break by working on a project in my studio on campus. Andrew was supposed to have lunch with my dad that day and then we were going to go do something together (I can’t remember what). It got to be about 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and Andrew hadn’t shown up yet. I, in my girlish giddiness, had all these fun thoughts running through my head like, Hey, maybe they’re having an extra long meeting. Maybe he’s asking my dad if he can propose! and other thoughts along that vein. Well, sometime that afternoon, Andrew showed up. He hadn’t met with my dad, he’d had a flat tire (or some other automobile-malady). Oh well. So much for getting the go-ahead on the proposal. So we just spent the afternoon together. The next day (Tuesday) we headed up to Spokane to get some Christmas shopping done. We looked at engagement rings too, because Andrew knew even then that I am a very picky person. I showed him exactly what I wanted (princess cut, low profile, kite set, 3/4 carat solitaire). So Tuesday was fun.

Wednesday was not fun. I had to work an extra long shift at Hallmark (not a fun thing during the holidays), and the lady at the Bon Marche (which is what it was back then) had really really messed up my order, and I was not happy. So the day is not going well. Then Andrew shows up, just to say hi, and that makes the day better. He says that the meeting with my dad was fine, nothing out of the ordinary (this was probably the 6th or 7th time they had gotten together). I was able to make it through my 11 hour shift, and I headed home to make a cheesecake for Thursday’s feast.

And this is the point where Andrew jumps in and tells his side of that afternoon. The meeting with my dad had been fine, in fact it had been beyond fine and my dad had given him the go-ahed to propose. So Andrew immediately started trying to figure out how to work together a proposal in 6 hours (he was determined to propose that night. We’d been dating for 10 months and it had gone on long enough). His grandmother had given him her mother’s wedding ring a few months before to give me, so he already had that. The setting was not so hot though, so he had to find someone who would put the diamond in a new setting. He went around to all the jewelers in the area (there are about 4 or 5) and found one that could do it that afternoon. Andrew picked out a white gold solitaire band, asked them to cut down the setting so it wouldn’t stick up too much, and gave them his great-grandmother’s diamond to put in it. The fun part is that this jeweler happened to be just across the hall from Hallmark where I was working at that very moment. So while the jeweler was making the ring, Andrew popped over to see me, all the while praying that his incredible excitement and nervousness would not be obvious to me, and that I hadn’t seen him in the jewelry store. After visiting me, he picked up the engagement ring, and proceeded to try to kill the next few hours until he would come to see me. I don’t remember what he says he did, but I remember there was a lot of pacing, a lot of phone calls to his dad and uncle, and a lot of sweaty palms.

And now its back to my side of the story. I got home and started making the cheesecake for Thanksgiving dinner. Then I hear the doorbell ring. This is odd, because we don’t usually have people coming to our door (my parents’ house is out of town). So I go to answer the door, and through the frosted glass I can see the shape of someone who looks an awful lot like my boyfriend, and he’s got flowers. Huh, he’s never come out here unannounced before, and he’s never brought flowers, I thought to myself. So I open the door and ask him what he’s doing there. He says that it looked like I was having a bad day, so he thought he’d bring me some flowers to cheer me up. Huh, I think to myself again. Then he asks if I’d like to go for a walk. Interesting, I think to myself. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m starting to get suspicious at this point. With the suspicion, I’m starting to get very excited, but trying equally hard not to show it. So I go downstairs to get my coat, and as soon as I’m out of sight I let this huge grin escape and cover my face. So out we go for our little walk, both of us trying to act very casual. Then Andrew bungled it and said, “Aren’t the stars lovely tonight?” and I knew something was up. So we walk up to the top of the hill, and Andrew is looking around desperately for a well lit spot (he wanted me to be able to see the ring). As fate would have it, the only well lit spot is the parking lot of the Mormon church. So we head into the parking lot. Again, interesting. Then he stopped, took me by the arm, told me he loved me (for the first time), and asked if I would be his wife. I welled up with tears, and told him that everyone says that people have no clue what they’re doing when they get married, but that there is no one in the world who I would rather go into something blindly with than him (it was a little longer and a little more eloquent than that, but you get the idea). All this time, Andrew is holding up this ring, and I’m not looking at it, I’m only looking at him. I’m just staring, teary eyed, at him and he’s trying to get me to look at this ring because he pretty proud that he was able to get it together on such short notice. I finally look at the ring, and Huh, that’s not at all what I asked for. Oh well, I’m engaged! I don’t care! runs through my head. So we enjoy our first kiss (or several), and then head back to my house. The family greets us with cheers as we walk in the door, and everything is very fun. Then Andrew tells his side of that afternoon, and I find out that this is his great-grandmother’s diamond on my left hand, and all is well in the world of picky-brides-to-be. So we broke out the champagne, called the rest of the family and friends, and set a date. And the next day was the most thankful Thanksgiving I’ve ever had.

And now I ask you all the contribute your engagement stories. You can make them long or short, I don’t care, just put them here and enjoy your Thanksgiving!

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2 Responses to “thanksgiving-eve, 2003”

Awe!! I remember watching you two walk to starbucks from hallmark on your breaks for coffee date. Working across from starbucks for so many years had a lot of perks, good thing I’m not the gossipy kind. 😉

OUR STORY
You can blame our friends Abbea, Shannon and Stephanie if you want. Abbea had been trying to hook us up for a long time. I wasn’t interested and I kind of doubt Ben was, either. Shannon had known Ben for decades and had introduced us a couple of times. Eventually, through random circumstances (read living in a minuscule town with nothing to do) we ended up hanging out together a lot. It was harmless group activity kind of hanging out. I thought he was funny. He thought I was pretty. It worked.

Then one day fall break rolled around and all of our friends left town. Ben’s car broke down. He was working at Burnett Research (tele-surveying company), and i was looking for a job. I offered to take him job hunting with me. He found a job as a CNA at a nursing home and I started working at the poster store in the mall across from Starbucks. He got his car fixed and I wrecked mine. From there on in, he started taking me to or from work when I didn’t want to walk, we started running errands together and “studying” together. In my defense, he was actually helping me because he had already taken the class I was in. I think I paid for the food a couple of times, and that’s probably his excuse for choosing me as a study buddy. On Thursdays we’d meet friends to go swing dancing. Ben always smelled really good. One day I found myself especially disappointed when he had to cancel some plans we had. That was my red flag. Uh, oh. I liked him! I consulted Stephanie. I remember the talk. It went something like:

Me: I think I like him more then a friend.
Her: Really? Why?
Me: I’m really bummed I won’t see him tonight. More then just bummed. I’m a bit sad.
Her: Is it that time of the month?
Me: No!
Her: I had to ask. Ok, so is it bad that you like him more?
Me: It is if he doesn’t like me that way.
Her: Why?
Me: Because I don’t want to be that stupid. It would be a waste of time.
Her: Does he like you?
Me: I don’t know.
Her: Ask him.
Me: What!?!
Her: Just ask. He’ll probably appreciate your honesty.
Me: Or it’ll scare him half to death.
Her: Either way, you’ll know.

Anyways, so the next night we’re sitting at Dennys. He’s eating Eggs Over My Hammy and I’m snacking on fries. I put my book down. He asked if I was alright. I said yeah, but in a tone that he would know that we weren’t finished talking yet. I told him that I liked him and that I was going to have to stop seeing him so much until I got over it. He said, “ok.” ….as you can imagine, Steph got an earful that night.

The next day, he asked if I wanted to study at Dennys again that night. I said ok. I figured if he didn’t have something to say, then I would genuinely cut bait. So there we were. Sitting at Dennys again. Over fries and hot chocolate. He kept spacing out over his book. My turn. I asked if he was alright. He said he had a problem, because he’d like to be more, but he was still in school and couldn’t do anything about it. I was confused. “Are you talking about us?” I asked. “Oh! yes. Sorry.” We started dating there on in. We knew we wanted to get married within a month or two. Due to family complications on my side, it took 2 years to get the go ahead from my folks, but the day we did, Ben took me to the Boise Train Depot (which was where his dad proposed to his mom), pulled out the paid-in-full-for (oh yes! I found that pretty hot!) ring and asked if I would marry him. I laughed…but then, of course, I said yes.

So it was Tim’s first visit down south to meet my parents. Only a handfull of people knew we were dating, and since my parents and Tim told me we wouldn’t get engaged until the following summer I figured this would be a great way to introduce him, and everybody would realize I was NOT being a flake and really truly loved this guy.

It was December 28th, Tim had been sick before he flew down, and still wasn’t feeling well that day. I had a job at a “high class” BBQ restaurant called Corky’s and had an 8 hour shift that day. Since I got to bed so late the night before I left without a shower and without makeup (sporting pigtails as well). My uniform consisted of black pants, white button up shirt, bow tie, and an apron that resembled a vest (did I mention this was “high class”?). So I get home, stinking of BBQ, and only Tim and 1 of my brothers is home right now. Tim was laying down in the ground, obviously not feeling so great so I went to lay down with him. After a minute I mentioned I was going to go take a shower and he asked me to stay with him just a little longer, so I did.

After a few minutes my parents and 2 youngest brothers come home and sit on the couch across the room. Mom asked Tim how he was feeling and he replied “Not great, but I’m gonna do something that I think will make me feel better”. He then proceeded to roll over and turn his back to me and my first thought was “oh no, he’s gonna throwup!” When he rolls back over and puts his arm around me there is a velvet box with a GORGEOUS ring right in front of my face. I pop up immediately and start screaming something along the lines of “Oh my gosh! Are you serious?” My dad then chimes in and says “you don’t know if that’s what he’s asking, it could just be a really nice Christmas gift”. I’ll be honest, a sliver of doubt actually entered my mind. Tim gets up on one knee and says “Katherine Marie, will you be my wife?” I squeak (yes…squeak) and threw my arms around his neck. After a few minutes and a few kisses he asks “well, do you wanna put the ring on?”.

I’d always said I wanted to be completely thrown off guard when I was proposed too. I believe one of my examples was walking out of the bathroom and having the guy on one knee right outside the door. So Tim totally did the right thing by not waiting till the end of the week with a romantic scene 🙂 So yea…that’s our story. It was fun seeing the completely look of shock on peoples faces when they saw I was engaged 🙂